This invention relates to the manufacture of molded frozen confections.
Freezer machines are known which are adapted to receive previously formed or molded confections which are passed through a freezing chamber for a suitable time and then discharged for further processing such as packing and shipment. Such machines have usually had an endless conveyor associated therewith which enters and exits the freezing chamber. The conveyor has included a plurality of successive separate planular support plates arrayed in side-by-side relationship and mounted to a drive chain or the like. A single pre-formed unfrozen confection has been manually placed on each plate upstream of the entrance to the freezing chamber, passed therethrough for freezing and then discharged for manual pick-off from the respective plate, which serves solely as a confection-receiving support.
It is a task of the present invention to expand the function of the support plates so that they are utilized in direct association with the molding of confections to be frozen, as well as the freezing thereof. The result is expansion of the freezing machine's previously known capabilities to make it more cost effective.
In accordance with the various aspects of the invention, the support plates are provided with attachments comprising mold elements for being charged with soft ice cream or the like. The mold elements are supported on the support plates with one or more mold cavities normally facing upwardly. After the mold cavities are filled, the mold elements are carried through the freezing chamber to harden the ice cream therein. At the discharge from the freezing chamber, the mold elements are successively and automatically pivoted to an upside-down inverted position for release of the confection therefrom. The mold elements are then pivoted back to their normal position for recharging.